Fan wheel structure

ABSTRACT

A fan wheel structure includes a ring member and a rotor. The ring member has two opposite open ends and an inner space defined between and communicable with the two open ends. A blade seat having a plurality of blades formed therearound is insert-molded on an outer side of the ring member. The rotor includes a hub fitted in the inner space of the ring member to associate with the ring member and the blade seat, and a rotary shaft having a coupling end inserted into the hub. The rotor can be fitted in the inner space of the ring member from either of the two open ends thereof for the completed fan wheel structure to have either a clockwise or a counterclockwise blade rotating direction. Therefore, only one mold, and accordingly an effectively reduced cost, is needed for manufacturing the fan wheel structures of different rotating directions.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fan wheel structure, and moreparticularly to a fan wheel structure that includes a ring member with ablade seat and a plurality of blades insert-molded on an outer sidethereof and a rotor adapted to be fitted in the ring member from eitherof two open ends thereof to thereby enable manufacturing of fan wheelstructures of different blade rotating directions without the need ofmaking two molds.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the constantly increased density of the electronic circuits on onesingle integrated circuit (IC) chip in recent years, the heat producedby each IC chip during operation thereof is also constantly increased.When a personal computer operates, the IC chips with high circuitdensity, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and the graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), of the computer will produce a large amount ofheat. For these IC chips to maintain normal operation over a long periodof time, it is necessary to maintain them at an optimal workingtemperature, so as to avoid lowered performance or damage of these ICchips due to overheating. For this purpose, a heat dissipation device isusually provided for directly contacting with a surface of theheat-producing electronic element, so that the heat produced by theelectronic element is transferred via the heat dissipation device todissipate into ambient air to ensure normal operation and prolongedservice life of the electronic element.

Among different heat dissipation devices, the cooling fan is featured byits ability of quickly removing the heat absorbed by the radiating finassembly to enable good air circulation and heat transfer. Therefore,the cooling fan has become an indispensable element for allheat-producing electronic devices.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are two conventional fan wheel structures having bladesoriented to different rotating directions. Both of the two conventionalfan wheel structures include a rotor 10 and a blade assembly 12. Therotor 10 has a hub 101 and a rotary shaft 103. The rotary shaft 103 hasan end inserted into the hub 101 and another opposite end received in abearing cup (not shown). The blade assembly 12 includes a plurality ofblades 121, which can be formed on the hub 101 in two ways. In the firstway, the blade assembly is directly insert-molded on the hub 101, sothat the whole blade assembly 12 and the blades 121 thereof areintegrally formed on the hub 101 to complete the fan wheel structure. Inthe second way, the hub 101 is directly press-fitted in the alreadymolded blade assembly 12 to associate with the latter and complete thefan wheel structure.

It is noted the blade assemblies 12 of the conventional fan wheelstructures are generally divided into two types according to theirrotating directions, namely, a clockwise rotating blade assembly asshown in FIG. 1A, and a counterclockwise rotating blade assembly asshown in FIG. 1B. Therefore, in practical manufacturing, two differentmolds are required for forming fan wheel structures having differenttypes of blade assemblies 12. More specifically, a mold is needed forforming the fan wheel structure having the clockwise rotating blades121, and another mold is needed for forming the fan wheel structurehaving the counterclockwise rotating blades 121. Since the conventionalfan wheel structure having the clockwise blade assembly 12 and thathaving the counterclockwise blade assembly 12 must be produced with twodifferent molds instead of the same one mold, extra manufacturingprocesses and mold cost are required.

In brief, the prior art fan wheel structures have the followingdisadvantages: (1) requiring increased manufacturing cost; and (2)involving more complicated manufacturing processes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a fan wheelstructure, which includes a ring member having a blade seat and aplurality of blades insert-molded on an outer side thereof and a rotorfitted in the ring member, such that the fan wheel structure can bemanufactured at lowered cost.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fan wheelstructure, which may have either a clockwise or a counterclockwise bladerotating direction simply by fitting a rotor in a ring member fromeither of two open ends thereof without the need of using two molds.

To achieve the above and other objects, the fan wheel structureaccording to the present invention includes a ring member and a rotor.The ring member has two opposite open ends and an inner space definedbetween and communicable with the two open ends. A blade seat isintegrally connected to an outer side of the ring member byinsert-molding and has a plurality of blades formed therearound. Therotor includes a hub and a rotary shaft. The rotary shaft has a free endand an opposite coupling end inserted into the hub. The hub can befitted in the inner space of the ring member from either of the two openends to associate with the ring member and the blade seat. The blades ofthe fan wheel structure can be changed to a different rotating directionsimply by fitting the rotor in the inner space of the ring member from adifferent open end thereof. Therefore, only one mold is needed tomanufacture fan wheel structures of different blade rotating directionsto effectively reduce the cost for manufacturing the fan wheelstructure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present inventionto achieve the above and other objects can be best understood byreferring to the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a conventional fan wheel structure;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of another conventional fan wheelstructure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a fan wheel structureaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a ring member for the fan wheelstructure of the present invention with a blade seat and blades thereoflocated around the ring member through insert-molding;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a rotor for the fan wheel structure ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5A is an assembled perspective view of the fan wheel structureaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention beingassembled in a first way; and

FIG. 5B is an assembled perspective view of the fan wheel structureaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention beingassembled in a second way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described with some preferredembodiments thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Forthe purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same in thepreferred embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Please refer to FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5A and 5B at the same time. A fan wheelstructure according to a preferred embodiment of the present inventionincludes a ring member 2 and a rotor 4. The ring member 2 has twoopposite open ends 21, namely, a first and a second open end, and aninner space 23 defined between and communicable with the two open ends21. A blade seat 3 is integrally connected to an outer side of the ringmember 2 and has a plurality of blades 31 formed on an outer surfacethereof. The blades 31 are equally spaced on the outer surface of theblade seat 3. The blade seat 3 and the blades 31 thereof are directlymolded on the outer side of the ring member 2 by way of insert molding,so that the ring member 2, the blade seat 3 and the blades 31 form anintegral unit, as shown in FIG. 3.

The rotor includes a hub 41 and a rotary shaft 43. The rotary shaft 43has a free end 431 and an opposite coupling end 432. The coupling end432 is inserted into the hub 41, and the free end 431 is received in acorresponding bearing cup (not shown). The hub 41 is fitted in the innerspace 23 of the ring member 2 to associate with the ring member 2 andthe blade seat 3. The hub 41 can be fixedly held in the inner space 23by riveting, inserting, snap-fitting, screwing, welding, and the like.In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the hub 41 is fixedly held inthe inner space 23 by riveting.

Since the ring member 2 has two open ends 21 communicable with the innerspace 23, the rotor 4 can be associated with the ring member 2 in twoways.

In the first way, the hub 41 of the rotor 4 is extended into the ringmember 2 from the first open end 21 and is then moved toward the secondopen end 21 until the hub 41 is fully fitted in the inner space 23 andriveted to the ring member 2 to complete the fan wheel structure. Inthis way, the blades 31 on the fan wheel structure are oriented forrotating clockwise to produce air flows, as shown in FIG. 5A.

On the other hand, in the second way, the hub 41 of the rotor 4 isextended into the ring member 2 from the second open end 21 and is thenmoved toward the first open end 21 until the hub 41 is fully fitted inthe inner space 23 and riveted to the ring member 2 to complete the fanwheel structure. In this way, the blades 31 on the fan wheel structureare oriented for rotating counterclockwise to produce air flows, asshown in FIG. 5B.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the ring member 2 is provided on its outerside with at least one lip portion 25. In the illustrated preferredembodiment, there is a plurality of lip portions 25 protruded from theouter side of the ring member 2 and located adjacent to one of the twoopen ends 21. However, it is understood the lip portions 25 may beotherwise located at other positions on the outer side of the ringmember 2. The lip portions 25 are provided for more firmly holding theblade seat 3 to the ring member 2 in the process of insert-molding. Thehub 41 includes a top 411 and a sidewall 412 rearwardly extended fromand located perpendicular to a periphery of the top 411, such that areceiving space 414 is defined between the top 411 and the sidewall 412.The top 411 includes a base portion 4110 and a plurality of supportingarms 4113. The base portion 4110 is located at a center of the top 411.The supporting arms 4113 are respectively connected to and extendedbetween an outer edge of the base portion 4110 and the periphery of thetop 411, such that an opening 4114 is formed on the top 411 between anytwo adjacent supporting arms 4113 to communicate with the receivingspace 414 and a corresponding one of the two open ends 21 of the ringmember 2, forming an aid to heat dissipation. For instance, when therotor 4 spins, the rotary shaft 43 will produce heat due to a frictionalcontact with the bearing cup. In this case, the openings 4114 allow theheat produced by the rotary shaft 43 to pass them and be quicklydissipated into ambient air, and are therefore helpful in effective heatdissipation.

The base portion 4110 has a centered through hole 4111, in which a shaftholder 45 is fixedly fitted. The rotary shaft 43 is inserted into theshaft holder 45. More specifically, the coupling end 432 of the rotaryshaft 43 is inserted into the shaft holder 45 that is fixedly fitted inthe base portion 4110 of the hub 41.

According to the present invention, the blade seat 3 and the blades 31are directly insert-molded on the lip portions 25 of the ring member 2,and the rotor 4 can be fitted in the inner space 23 and riveted to thering member 2 from either of two opposite open ends thereof to completea fan wheel structure having either a clockwise or a counterclockwiseblade rotating direction. Therefore, only one mold (not shown) is neededfor manufacturing both clockwise and counterclockwise rotatable fanwheel structures to largely save the manufacturing cost.

In conclusion, the fan wheel structure of the present invention has thefollowing advantages: (1) enabling lowered manufacturing cost; and (2)enabling different blade rotating directions simply by fitting the rotorin the ring member 2 from a different direction.

The present invention has been described with some preferred embodimentsthereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in thedescribed embodiments can be carried out without departing from thescope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limitedonly by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fan wheel structure, comprising: a ring memberhaving two opposite open ends, and an inner space defined between andcommunicable with the two open ends; the ring member being integrallyconnected at an outer side to a blade seat, and the blade seat includinga plurality of blades formed around an outer surface thereof; and arotor including a hub and a rotary shaft; the rotary shaft having a freeend and an opposite coupling end inserted into the hub; and the hub isfitted in the inner space of the ring member to associate with the ringmember and the blade seat.
 2. The fan wheel structure as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the blade seat is insert-molded to the outer side ofthe ring member.
 3. The fan wheel structure as claimed in claim 2,wherein the ring member further includes at least one lip portionprotruded from the outer side of the ring member, and the blade seatbeing insert-molded to the at least one lip portion to therebyintegrally connect to the outer side of the ring member.
 4. The fanwheel structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hub includes a topand a sidewall; the top including a base portion and a plurality ofsupporting arms respectively connected to and extended between an outeredge of the base portion and a periphery of the top; and the top and thesidewall together defining a receiving space in the hub.
 5. The fanwheel structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein any two adjacent ones ofthe supporting arms define an opening between them; and the openingsbeing communicable with the receiving space in the hub and acorresponding one of the two open ends of the ring member.
 6. The fanwheel structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein the base portion hascentral through hole, in which a shaft holder is fixedly fitted.